Filling-replenishing loom.



No. 724,121. v PATENTBD MAR. 31, 19oa.

1'. 110111111101.l FILLING REPLENISHING 1.00111.

APPLIOATION FILED JAN. 5, 1903.

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UNITE-D STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JONAS NORTHROP, OF HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO DRAPER COMPANY, OF HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSE-'ITSl A CORPO# RATION OF MAINE.

FILLING-REPLENISHING LOOlVl.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 724,121, dated March 31, 1903:

i Application filed January 5, 1903. Serial No. 137,925. (Ne model.)

To @ZZ- wwm t may concern: y

Be it known that I, JONAS NORTHROP, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and a resident of Hopedale, county of Worcester, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Transferring Mechanism for. Automatic Filling-Replenishing Looms., of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings,is a specification, like characters on the drawings representing like parts.

In looms provided with mechanism for transferring automatically a fresh supply of lilling to the running-shuttle the filling-carrier, such as a bobbin or cop-skewer, is rapidly transferred from a hopper or feeder to the shuttle. The tip or head of the llingcarrier is engaged by a rocking arm or transferrer atsuch time, and United States Patent No.- 647,918 shows and describes means for positively holding or grasping the tip of the filling-carrier in order to cure certain defects in operation when the tip is not so held.

This inventionhas a similar object inviewnamely, to provide means for grasping rmly the tip of the bobbin or cop-skewer during transfer and to obviate a very common fault, the snapping of the tip down, so as to bring extra and undesirable tension on the taut iillingthread leading from `the filling-carrier to the hopper or feeder. Owing to the force of the blow and .for other reasons the ,fillingcarrier is often inclined, with its tip. con; siderably below the bottom of the shuttle. When the shuttle is picked out of the shuttle-box, the tip is of course snapped up into place, but meanwhile it has very probably broken its thread. Again, the filling-carriers sometimes get out of position-laterally while entering the shuttle, so that their tip endsV An important feature of my invention ris the release of the tip before the transferrer begins its return movement to normal position.

In former devices employing a positive grip for the tip the quick return of the transferrer sometimes will pull the filling-carrier up more or less out of the shuttle, notwithstanding the very rapid release of the tip.

In my present invention the release is governed positively, and it is eected surely and accurately before the transferrer begins its return movement.

The'various novel features of my invention will be described hereinafter in the specifloation and particularly pointed out in the following claims. Y

Figure l is a cross-sectional view of a portion of aloom, taken between the end plates or disks of the feeder or hopper `and illustrat- Fig. 4 is ay view of the parts shown in y Fig. 3 looking toward the left; and Fig. 5 is a top'view, ,partly broken out, of A,the controller for the tip-grasping means.

The lay.A3, having one of its shuttle-boxes slotted at the bottom for the passage of the v ejected flling-carrier, the self-threading shuttle S, the hopper or lling-feeder F, the inner disk a thereof being shown in Figs. l and 2, the fixed stud f on thestand A7, and the transferrer f', mounted to rock thereon, maybe and are all substantially as in United States Patent No. 664,790, datedDecember 25, 1900, the transferrerhaving a depending'arm f3, carrying a notched dog m15, to be engaged by a bunter C2 on the lay when a change of filling is to be eifected. As in said patent, the transferrer has a lateral arm 2l secured rigidly thereto, the outer end of the arm being enlarged and downturned, as at j, and bifurcated or slotted, as at jx, Fig. 4, the lower end of said' part, which constitutes a/jaw, being concaved at its rear edge at 5. Within the slot 7'Xis inserted the upper end of a relatively IOO movable jawj, fulcrumed on a pin 4 and having its prong-like lower end concaved on its forward edge at G opposite to the concave portion 5 of the opposed jaw. A bow-shaped piece of leather, rubber, o1; other resilient and preferably non-metallic material l0 is inserted between and secured to the concaved portions of the jaws, as clearly shown in the drawings, this bow-shaped piece tending to separate or open the jaws and engaging the tip of the filling-carrier b when the jaws are closed. The upper end of the jawj is enlarged and extended forward above the top of the slotted jaw j, as atjz, and projects beyond the front upright edge thereof, as shown in Figs. l, 2, and 3, the weight of such enlargement acting as a counterbalance to hold the jawj open, this tendency being assisted by the resiliency of the bow-shaped piece l0.

In the Patent No. 647,918 referred to the arm f, fixedly secured to the stud f, sustains a yieldingly-mounted tip-support; but herein I have dispensed with such tip-support and utilize the arm to sustain means for controlling the opening and closing of the jaws. A pin (Z, extended loosely through the arm, has

secured to its inner end a short sleeve Ol, in-

closing a spring SX, Fig. 5, surrounding the pin and fast at one end to the sleeve, the other end of the spring being secured to the arm. On its opposite or outer end the pin has secured to it an elongated upturned cam c, having a curved edge c', gradually rising to the high part 0X and then suddenly dropping to the low part c2. The spring SX is so wound as to normally retain the cam in the position shown, with its depending tail c3 against a stop]c7 on the armf. Normally the extensionj2 is justI above the upper end of the cam; but when a change of filling is effected the trausferrerf swings downward to engage the head b of the filling-carrier, and the eX- tensionj2 just about engages the cam c as the jawsj and j straddle the tip, as shown in Fig. 3. As the transferrer continues to descend the cam-face c acts to quickly turn jawj on its fulcrum 4 in the direction of arrow 2, Fig. 3, thereby closing the jaws and compressing the bow l0 upon the tip of the fillingcarrier, firmly grasping it. The face c is long enough to hold the jaws closed upon the tip until the filling-carrier is inserted in the shuttle, the lower or grasping ends of the jaws entering the shiittle. Just before the transferrer has 'fully completed its active or transferring movement, however, the eXtension ja passes olf the high point 0X of the cam and drops into relative normal position when opposite the low part c2 of the cam, the weight of the extension and the how 10 immediately opening the jaws and freeing the tip, as in Fig. 2. The tip is thus freed before the transferrer begins its retrograde movement to normal position, and hence there is no posssibility of the tip being lifted by such movement. As the transferrer rises the end of the extension .i2 wipes over the cam edge and swings the cam on its fulcrum-pin d against the action of the spring, the cam thereby yielding to permit the return of the extension with the transferrer, and, as will be seen from Fig. 1, the parts are then in readiness for the next transfer of filling.

The opening and closing of the jaws is entirely independent of the filling-carrier, and the controlling device or cam is also mounted independent of the transfer-rer, as will be manifest from the foregoing.

My invention is not restricted to the precise construction and arrangement herein shown and described, as the same may be modified or changed in different particulars by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secu re by Letters Patent, is

l. In a loom provided with automatic filling- Supplying mechanism, a transferrer, means mounted thereon to grasp the tip of a fillingcarrier, and a controller independent of the transferrer to cause said means to grasp and release the tip automatically.

2. In aloom provided with automatic fillingsupplying mechanism, a transferrer having jaws to engage and hold the tip of a fillingcarrier during transfer, and means independent of the transferrer and the filling-carrier to effect automatically the closing and opening of the jaws.

3. In a loom provided with automatic filling supplying mechanism, a transferrer, means mounted thereon to grasp the tip of a fillingcarrier, and a controlling-cam mounted independently of the transferrer, to coperate with and cause said means to grasp and release the tip automatically.

4. In aloom provided with automatic fillingsupplying mechanism, a transferrer, means mounted thereon to grasp the tip of a fillingcarrier, and a controller` to cause said means to grasp the tip during transfer and to release the tip as the transferring movement of the transferrer is completed.

5. In a loom provided with automatic fillingsupplying mechanism, a transferrer having jaws to engage and hold the tip of a fillingcarrier during transfer, and a controller to close the jaws automatically as transfer begins and to eifect opening of the jaws and release of the tip prior to return movement of the transfer-rer.

6. In a loom provided with automatic fillingsupplying mechanism, a transferrer having jaws to engage and hold the tip of a fillingcarrier during transfer, and means mounted independently of the transferrer to close the jaws automatically during transfer and to effect their opening to release the tip as the transferrer completes its transferring movement.

7. In a loom provided with a feeder to hold a supply of filling-carriers, a rocking transferrer having a fixed tip-holding jaw and a co- IIO perating, relatively movable jaw, and a controller mounted independently of the transferrer to engage and close the movable jaw upon the tip of a filling-carrier to be transferred and to retain it closed during transfer, and to eect opening of the movable jaw before the transferrer begins its return movement.

8. In a loom provided with automatic fillingsupplying mechanism, a transferrer having jaws to engage and hold the tip of a fillingcarrier during transfer, and a cam mounted independently of the transferrer, to close the jaws automatically at the beginning of transferring movement of the transferrer and to effect their opening as such movement ceases,

the closing and opening of the jaws being effected independently of vthe filling-carrier.

9. A transferrer for automatic looms, having tip-grasping jaws mounted upon it, and means independent of the transferrer and operating independently of the filling-carrier to close the jaws upon the tip of the latter during transfer and to open them prior to retrac- 

